Dig In: Garden checklist for week of July 21

After baking on another triple-digit day, Sacramento gardeners share a common plea: Will this heat ever end?

Yes – but first, a few more days in the 100s, says the National Weather Service.

According to the forecast, Sacramento will see some slight cooling Sunday (July 21) with an expected high of 97. Then, we’ll likely top 100 degrees on four consecutive days, peaking at 105 (or a little higher) on Tuesday.

But on Friday, the Delta breeze returns and so do more normal temperatures. Next Saturday (July 27), Sacramento’s expected high is only 93 degrees; that’s actually average for late July in Sacramento.

If possible, put off planting or outdoor activities until next weekend. In the meantime, concentrate on staying cool and hydrated. That advice goes for the gardeners as well as the garden.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* After our triple-digit heat subsides, fertilize your garden. Water, then feed vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.

* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* If your melons and squash aren't setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

* One good thing about hot days: Most lawns stop growing when temperatures top 95 degrees. Keep mower blades set on high.

* Add some late summer color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.